Handling apparatus



Jan. 19, 1965 R. 1-. VAUGHAN ETAL 3,166,182

HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 21. 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR5 055777. 16406664 00/1/1410 5, K511i) BY W/(Z/JM 1% 16'07'7 irnmwir Jan. 19,1965 R. T. VAUGHAN ETAL 3 15 132 HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 21, 19624 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 19, 1965 R. 'r. VAUGHAN ETAL HANDLING APPARATUSFiled Dec. 21, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 .47 J! 7 j [a Jan. 19, 1965 R. T.VAUGHAN ETAL HANDLING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 21, 1962INVENTOR; 4051547 7. V4 6174/1 0044410 16'. AZ'ZZZ') y W/ZZ/A/i/ A.15077 3,lo,l82 HANDLING APPARATUS Robert T. Vaughan, Cheltenham, DonaldE. Kelley, Glenide, and William H. Scott, Seiiersville, Pa, assignors toPhiico Corporation, Philadelphia, Pa, a corporation of Delaware FiledBee. 21, 1962, Ser. No. 246,447 14 (Ilaims. (6i. I98I3) The presentinvention relates to handling apparatus and more particularly toconveyor systems for transporting data-carrying articles to and from astation where the data is interpreted to provide for subsequent sortingof the articles. While the invention is applicable to the handling of avariety of articles, it has particular application in the field ofmodern mechanization of postal operations to effect automatic processingof letter mail.

A customary pr cedure followed in mechanized mail handling is to arrangeand stack letter envelopes in proper oriented relation for feeding inone-by-one processional order to a sorting machine which automaticallysorts and directs the envelopes to receptacles arranged according tocities and States. In order to carry out automatic sorting andenvelope-directing operations, it is necessary to provide the automatichandling equipment with means capable of identifying an envelope beingprogressively advanced towards the sorting machine.

For that purpose it has recently been proposed to utilize characterrecognition systems in which electronic means, located at a so-calledreading station in the path of movement of the addressed envelopes,scans the City-State portion of the address to efiect activation ofcontrols which precondition the sorting machine the function of which isto direct the envelopes to the appropriate receptacles. Such systems areconsidered most advantageous because of the rapidity with which theyperform their character-reading and control-setting functions, makes itpossible to expedite the process ng of letter mail at desirable rate,for example, 180 letters per minute. To accomplish this result, it isrequired: that the envelopes be moved at rapid rate; that apredetermined spacing be maintained between the trailing edge of aleading envelope and the leading edge of a trailing envelope; that anenvelope be momentarily arrested and stabilized at the reading station;that an arrested and stabilized envelope be brought into a positionwhere it can be read by the electronic scanning device; that an envelopebe removed from reading position and released for departure from thereading station in timed relation with the arrival of the nextsucceeding envelope at that station.

It is with apparatus capable of fulfilling these requirements that thepresent invention is concerned, and accordingly it is a primary objectof the invention to provide a novel arrangement and combination ofelements which insure the attainment of such requirements. T owards thatend, a preferred embodiment of the app ratus is featured by the use of acontinuously moving conveying system, in novel combination withmechanism which stops the conveyed envelopes, or the like, during ascanning or reading interval.

Other and more specific objects and characteristic features of theinvention have to do with the provision of apparatus which incorporatesimproved and simplified mechanisms for handling letter envelopes in themanner refered to above, which in operation requires minimum personnelattention, and which is readily adaptable for interposition between andcooperative association with other mechanisms, such as a letter envelopefeeder and a letter envelope sorter.

3,ldti,l82 Patented Jan. I 9, 1%65 ice To obtain these objectives andfeatures, a preferred embodiment of the invention basically involves theuse of conveyor means mounted to travel in a path passing the locationof the recognition device to bring the data bearing articles to saidlocation in succession, interceptor means for first arresting an articlein said location to prevent movement of the article with the conveyormeans for a predetermined time period and thereafter releasing thearticle for continued movement with the conveyor means, article-engagingmeans operable during the aforesaid time period for first removing thearrested article from the conveyor means and placing such article inposition to be recognized by the device and for thereafter removing thearticle from said position and redepositing the article on the conveyormeans for'continued movement therewith, and means for receiving andtransposting the recognized article away from the conveyor means.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention there is provided structureincluding a-first section with which there is associated means forsuccessively feeding letter envelopes, or the like, to that firstsection from a stack on a stacking table, and a second section whichmoves in a path passing beneath a character recognizing device of anelectronic system adapted to store information, for example informationas to city and State on 'an addressed envelope, and to transmit thatinformation to a sorting machine. In this second section there isinterposed means for momentarily preventing movement of an envelope uponreaching the location of the electronic scanning device, and means forraising and lowering such envelope between the mentioned second sectionand rec-' ognizing device so as to bring the envelope into position tobe read by the device and then into position to be conveyed to-thesorting machine which is set in response to signals transmitted inaccordance with information recognized by the device.

The invention, as well as its objects and advantages, will be more fullyunderstood from the followingidescript-ion based on the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational side view of a mail handling machineincorporating the principles of the invention, portions of the housingstructure being broken away to illustrate cooperative elements enclosedtherein;

FIGURE 2 is an elevational end view looking in the general direction ofarrows 2-2 of FIGURE 1, outer wall portions. being broken away toillustrate normally hidden parts;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary View looking in the generaldirection of arrows 3-3 of FIGURE 1 and showing the main conveyorsections of the machine; FIGURE 4 is an enlarged elevational sectionalview looking in the general direction of arrows 4-4- ofFIG- URE 1; Y 7

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary detailed view ofapor- HOIIVO'I the gatemechanism shown in FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6' is an elevational sectional view looking in the direction ofarrows 6-6 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is an explanatory schematic view illustrat ing the operation ofthe gate mechanism;

- FIGURE 8 is a vertical sectional view, on an enlarged sca ile, takensubstantially on line 8-8 of FIGURE 4; an

FIGURE 9 is an elevational-sectional view looking in the generaldirection of arrow 9 -9 of FIGURE 8.

With more particular referenceto the drawings, the

mail handling machine illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2 is provided with aconveyor structure which basically comprises a first conveyor sectiondesignated generally. at 1tl,

a second conveyor section designated generally at '11,

ferring data-carrying articles, in this instance addressed letterenvelopes E, from a stack on a table 14,to the first conveyor section,and a transport mechanism designated generally at for transportingletter envelopes from the second conveyor section'to the mailsortingapparatus (not shown) of any suitable known type. These basic componentsof the illustrated machine are supported on framework 16, the first andsecond conveyor sections 10 and 11 being housed by an enclosure 17 de.

fined by paneling 18. As seen in FIGURE 3, the first conveyor sectionIt"; includes a plurality of parallel endless belts 19 arranged inengagement with a driven drum 20 disposed at the central portion of themachine and with a series of coaxial pulleys 21 disposed at the forwardor input end portion of the machine, and the second conveyor section 11includes also a plurality of parallel endless belts 22, the latter beingarranged in engagement with the drum 2t! and with a series of coaxiallyrotatable pulleys 23 disposed at the rearward or output end portion ofthe ma chine. The driven drum 20 is affixed to a shaft 24 rotatablysupported in standards 25 mounted on the framework. As illustrated inFIGURE 1, the drum is driven at predetermined speed in the direction ofarrow A through the shaft 24 which is connected by means of a belt drive26 through a gear reduction unit 27 coupled to motor 28. I

Assbest seen in FIGURE 3, the series of pulleys 23 associated with belts22 are supported for rotation on an axle 29 in bearing bracket arms 30mounted on the framework 16, whereas the series of pulleys 21 associatedwith belts 19 include two pulleys 21a and 21b which, as shown in FIGURE3, are supported on bearing bracket 31a and 31b, respectively, theremaining pulleys 21 being rotatably supported on an axle 32 carried inbrackets 33 also mounted on the framework 16. The conveyor belts 19 and22 are maintained under proper tension and'guided in their travel byslack take-up roller means 34 in engagement with the belts. j

Transfer mechanism 12 is of the pneumatically operative and mechanicallyactuated type, the general construction and basic functions of which areknown in the art.

As represented in FIGURE 1 such transfer mechanism 4 V envelope pickedup by and moving with a suction head 42 is picked off by thecorresponding suction heads. 46 of the upper assemblyand carried therebyto the input end of the first conveyor section 10 where the envelope isdeposited on belts 19. These belts 19 convey the letter envelope to theinput end, of the second conveyor section 11 whereupon the belts 22advance the envelope towards a data reading station indicated at 47where the latter envelope is temporarily arrested and held inpredetermined position.

For that purpose there is provided a gate mechanism 48 located in thepath of movement of the letter envelope as it travels along with theconveyor belts 22. As clearly shown in FIGURE 4 the gate mechanismincludes an elongated gate element 49 suspended immediately above andextending transversely of the endless belts 22, the gate element beingformed with recesses 50 to accommodate said belts. The gate element isrigidly mounted on a horizontal shaft 51 rotatably supported in bearings52 at the upper end of vertical rods 53 which are mounted forreciprocating motion in sleeves 54 on upstanding posts 55 arranged onthe framework 16. As more clearly appears in FIGURES 4, 5 and 6, eachend of the shaft 51 is provided with a pinion 56. These pinions meshwith racks 57 fixed on the posts 55 so as to cause the shaft 51 torotate in bearings 52 as the latter move up or down with reciprocationof the rods 53 which, for that purpose, are provided with guide rollers58 (FIGURES 5 and 6) running between guide blocks 59 on said posts andwith cam followers 66 (FIGURES 4 and 5) disposed in riding engagementwith eccentric cams 61 affixed on a rotatable cam shaft 62. As shown inFIGURE 1, this shaft is driven by means of a belt-and-pulley drive 63'connected to the belt-and-pulley drive 26 which, as here! 'inabovedescribed, is connected to the motor driven gear reduction unit 27.

The operation of the gate element 49 to prevent a letter envelope at thereading station from moving with the belts 22 and to permit movement ofan envelope with said belts after its recognition at the readingstation, will be best understood upon reference to schematic FIGURE 7.As represented in this figure, the gate element 49 is normally restingin a lowered position (full line position). where the leading edge of aletter envelope Ecomes in' abutting engagement with said gate elementand, is restrained thereby while the belts 22 continue to travel. When,through function of the associated cam and rod mechanism describedabove, the rigidly interconnected,

' shaft 51 and gate element 49 are lifted as indicated by tact with andto pick up the leading letter envelope in the stack on the stackingtable 14 which is provided with conveyor means 14:: for progressivelyadvancing the stack in the direction ofarrow C.

The upper assembly 36 also comprises a rotatable housing 43 providedwith projecting suction conduit 44 which, in particular accordance withthe present invention and as more clearly shown in FIGURE 3, are eachprovided with a set of three suction arms .45 each terminating with thesuction head 46. These arms 45 with their respective suction heads arespaced laterallywith respect to each other so that with rotation of thehousing 43 in a direction of arrow D (FIGURE 1) they will passunobstructedly through the space on either side of the hereinbeforementioned set of pulleys 21a and 21b (FIGURE 3).

driving and suction-creating systems (not shown) customarily employedin' transfer mechanism of the general and the suction heads 46 oftheupper assembly meet in the position shown at P; At'this position, theletter The lower and upper assemblies 35 and 36 are adapted to rotate inunison and to function syn-' chronously through operation of associatedconventional.

to scan the City-State portion of the address appearing;

on the letter envelope arrested at the reading station by, the gatemechanism 48. The electronic equipment forms. no part of the presentinvention and therefore need notbe described. However, for electronicequipment suitable for use with the apparatus of this invention,reference may be had to copending application Serial No. 166,082

filed January 15, 1962 filed in the names ofv James S. Bryan and CharlesF. Teacher and assigned to the; assignee of the present application. Theelectronic equip ment is housed in cabinetry 64 wherein there isincorpov rated a support structure 65 for a scanner glass panel 65a(FIGURE 8) located at the reading station 47 where there is also locatedan enclosure66 containing article-f engaging means for bringing a letterenvelope into and out of contact with said glass panel.

As seen in FIGURE 3, the last mentioned means include a plurality ofelongated lifting members 67, one between each two adjacent belts 22.These members have an envelope engaging portion 68 which registers withapertures or slots 69 in the top of the enclosure 66, and, as shown inFIGURE 8, each member 67 is connected at one end 70 to a pivot 71supported within the enclosure 66. The other end 72 of each member 67has secured thereto a depending rod 73, best seen in FIGURE 9, whichslidably passes through upper wall 74 and lower wall 75 of a transverserail 7 6 mounted for vertical movement in the enclosure 66. A coilspring 77 arranged about the depending rod bears against the lower wall75 of the rail and against a collar 78 on the rod so as to imposethereon a thrust which serves to maintain the collar against the upperwall 74 of the rail and thus yieldably sustains member 67 in positionwhere its envelope engaging portion 68 normally lies in predeterminedspaced relation with respect to said upper wall of the rail. Asillustrated in FIGURE 4, the opposite end portions 79 of the rail 76 areeach provided with a vertically extending rod 80 which as more clearlyshown in FIGURE 9 is received for axial sliding motion in verticallyaligned bearings 81 carried on bracket 82, the latter being supported onbottom wall 83 of the enclosure 66. Also as illustrated in FIGURE 4, therods 86 project through said bottom wall and carry rollers 84 which aredisposed in riding engagement with eccentric cams 85 affixed on the camshaft 62 to rotate therewith.

The manner in which the above described envelope lifting mechanismoperates will best be understood by referring to FIGURES 8 and 9. Asseen in these figures the mechanism normally rests in a lowered position(full line position in FIGURE 8) where the envelope engaging portions 68of each member 67 is substantially flush with the top of enclosure 66 toclear belts Z2 and envelope E thereon. Following the arrest of theenvelope by the gate element 49, the eccentric cam surfaces representedby curved lines XX and Y-Y function to raise the mechanism to anelevated position (broken line position in FIGURE 8) where the aforesaidenvelope-engaging portion 63 lifts the envelope and, by reason of thespring 77 in association with the rod 73 of each member 67, holds theenvelope snugly against the scanner glass panel a. To avoid damage tothe glass panel 65a, the mounting structure 65 is suspended from springbiased pins 86 which normally locate the mounting structure and glasspanel in proper position for envelopes of normal thickness but whichwill allow the panel and its mounting structure to give should articlesof abnormal thickness be brought to the reading station.

It will be understood that the various portions of the machine, forexample the gate mechanism and the envelope lifting mechanism, operatecoordinately in timed relation to the predetermined speed of beltadvance.

After the City-State portion of the address has been recognized forconditioning the sorting machine (not shown) to which the envelope is tobe fed, the lifting mechanism returns to its normal lowered positionthus redepositing the envelope on belts 22 to be removed thereby fromthe reading station, gate element 4% having in the meantime been liftedand swung to envelope-releasing position in the manner hereinbeforedescribed.

In accordance with the invention, suction is utilized to effect positiveretention of a letter envelope in proper position while being liftedfrom and redeposited on belts 22 by function of the envelope-engagingportion 68 of members 67. For that purpose, the enclosure 66 for thelifting mechanism is provided with a port 87 (FIGURE 8) communicatingwith'an air duct 88. This duct, as seen in FIGURE 2, leads to the inletside of a suction pump 89 which can be driven from the gear reductionunit 27 by means of suitable belt and pulley drive 90. With thisarrangement, it will be understood that as the pump operates there iscreated below an envelope at station 47 (FIGURE 8) a sub-atmosphericpressure condition whereby the envelope is prevented from shifting withrespect to the portion 68 of members 67. Moreover, it will be understoodthat because the pump will cause air within. the enclosure '17 to flowas represented by the arrows in FIGURE 8, the envelopes restingrupon andtravelling with the conveyor belts are subjected to air pressure whicheffectively restrains the envelopes against uncontrolled shifting withrespect to said belts.

From the foregoing description, it will be appreciated 7 that themachine of the invention incorporates a novel combination of improvedconveyor and article-control mean which cooperate in a novel manner withdatarecognizing means to facilitate the handling and disposition ofarticles supplied with identifying data. Particularly it will berecognized that a machine constructed in accordance with the inventionfacilitates the'rapid disposal of letter mail in main post officecenters where a large volume of letter mail is handled for distributionto local post office branches.

While a preferred embodiment has been shown and described, it will beunderstood that the invention is not limited to specific structures ofthat embodiment but embraces such changes and variations as come withinthe scope of the subjoined claims.

V /hat we claim is:

1. Mechanismfor conveying data bearing articles past a data recognizingdevice, comprising: conveyor means a mounted to travel in a path passingthe location of the recognizing device to bring the data bearingarticles to said location in succession; intercepting means for firstarresting an article at said location for a predetermined time period,and thereafter to release the article for continued movement;article-engaging means operable during the aforesaid time period forfirst removing the arrested article from the conveyor means and placingsuch article in a position to be recognized by the device and for thenremoving the article from said position for continued movement; andmeans for receiving the recognized article after its removal and releasefrom said position.

"2. Mechanism as set forth in claim 1, in which the intercepting meansincludes a gate element movable to a lowered position for arresting thearticle and movable to a raised position for releasing the article.

3. Mechanism as set forth in claim 1, in which the intercepting meansincludes an elongated gate element, a horizontal shaft rigid with .thegate element and having end portions projecting longitudinally from saidelement, vertically slidable bearings ro'tatably receiving said shaftportions, pinion carried by said shaft portion adjacent the bearings,fixed racks disposed inengagement with the pinions,'-and cam meansconnected with the bearings to slide the same for raising and loweringthe gate element and simultaneously imparting thereto opening andclosing movements through the aforesaid pinions and racks.

4. Mechanism as set forth in claim 1, in which the article engagingmeans includes lifting members movable to a raised position for-engagingthe arrested BI- ticle to remove it from the conveyor means and movableto a lowered position to remove the recognized article from saidposition.

5. Mechanism as set forth in claim 1, in which the article engagingmeans includes elongated lifting members each pivoted at one'end andhaving an article engaging portion at the other end, rods depending fromsaid portion of the lifting members, a rail extending transversely ofand slidably receiving therods, spring means between the rail and rodsand biasing the latter upwardly with respect to the rail, and cam meansconnected with the rail for raising and lowering the same to pivot thelifting members and thereby raise and lower their mentioned portionsthrough the'aforesaid rods- 6. Mechanism as set forth in claim 1, inwhich the article engaging means includes lifting members movable to araised position for engaging the arrested article to remove it 'from theconveyor means and movable to a lowered position for lowering therecognized article from said position, an enclosure containingtherlifting mernbers and apertured for movement of the members intoengagementwith the arrested article, and a source of suctioncommunicating with the interior of said enclosure,

7. Mechanism as set'for-th in claim 1, in which the intercepting meansincludes a gate element movable to .a lowered position for arresting anarticle and movable to a raised position for releasing the article, inwhich the article engaging means includes lifting members mo-vable to araised position for engaging the arrested article to remove it from theconveyor means and movable to a lowered position for lowering therecognized article from said position, and in whichmeans is provided formoving the gate element and lifting members in predetermined synchronismwith respectto each other.

8. Mechanism as set forth in claim 1, in which the mentioned conveyormeans include .a section having a series of coaxial pulleys disposedadjacent the transfer means and a plurality of parallel endless belts inengagement with said pulleys, brackets separably supporting certain ofsaid pulleys to provide spaces therebetween, the transfer mean includinga rotatable housing and sets of suction'arms provided thereon, thesuction arms of each set being spaced later-ally with respect to eachother to register with and pass through the spaces .beV-V .tween theaforesaidseparably supported pulleys.

9. Mechanism for conveying data bearing articles past a data recognizingdevice, comprising: conveyor means mounted to travel in a path passingthe location of the recognizing device to bring the data bearingarticles to said location in succession; intercepting means for firstarresting an articletat said location to prevent movement of the.article with the conveyor means for a predetermined time period, andthereafter to release the article for continued movement with theconveyor means; article-engaging means operable during the aforesaidtime period for first removing the arrested article from the conveyormeans and placing such article in a position to be recognized by thedevice and for then removing the article from said position andredepositing thearticle on' the conveyor means for continued movementtherewith; and means for receiving and transporting the recognizedarticle away from the conveyor means.

10. Mechanism as set forth in claim 9, in which the article engagingmeans includes lifting members movable to a raised position for engagingthe arrested article to remove it from the conveyor means :and movableto a lowered positionfto remove the recognized article from saidposition, and to redeposit the article on the conveyor means. r

-Il. Mechanism as set forth in claim 9, in whichthe article" engagingmeans includes lifting members movable to a raised positionfor'engaging'the arrested ar- 7 ticle to remove it from the conveyormeans and mov- V intercepting means includes a gate element movable to alowered position for arresting an article and movable to a raisedposition for releasing the article, in which the article engaging meansincludes lifting members movable to a raised position for engaging thearrested ar ticle to remove it from the conveyor means and movable to alowered position for lowering the recognized article from said positionand redeposiu'ng the article on the conveyor means, and in which meansis provided for moving the gate element and lifting member inpredetermined synchronism with respect to each other. l3. Mechanism forconveying data bearing articles past a data recognizing device,comprising: a first conveyor section; transfer means for moving a datahearing article from a stack to the first conveyor section; a secondconveyor section mounted to travel in a path passing the location of therecognizing device and to receive an article from the first conveyorsection and bring it to said location; intercepting means for firstarresting an article at said location to prevent movement ofthearticlewith the second conveyor means for a predetermined time periodand thereafter releasing the article for continued movement with thesecond con-f veyor sect1on;-means operable during saidtime period forfirst removing an intercepted article from the second conveyor sectionand placing said second article in position to be recognized 'by thedevice and for then remov ing the article from said position andredepositing the article on the second conveyor section for continuedmovement therewith; and means for receiving and transporting therecognized article away from the second conveyor section.

14. Mechanism as set forth in claim 13, in which the mentioned firstconveyor section includes a series of co-,

spaced'laterally'wi-th respect to each other to register ,Wrth and passthrough the spaces between the aforesaid separably supported pulleys.

References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,636,602

Stoate Apr. 23, 1953=

1. MECHANISM FOR CONVEYING DATA BEARING ARTICLES PAST A DATA RECOGNIZINGDEVICE, COMPRISING: CONVEYOR MEANS MOUNTED TO TRAVEL IN A PATH PASSINGTHE LOCATION OF THE RECOGNIZING DEVICE TO BRING THE DATA BEARINGARTICLES TO SAID LOCATION IN SUCCESSION; INTERCEPTING MEANS FOR FIRSTARRESTING AN ARTICLE AT SAID LOCATION FOR A PREDETERMINED TIME PERIOD,AND THEREAFTER TO RELEASE THE ARTICLE FOR CONTINUED MOVEMENT;ARTICLE-ENGAGING MEANS OPERABLE DURING THE AFORESAID TIME PERIOD FORFIRST REMOVING THE ARRESTED ARTICLE FROM THE CONVEYOR MEANS AND PLACINGSUCH ARTICLE IN A POSITION TO BE RECOGNIZED BY THE DEVICE AND FOR THENREMOVING THE ARTICLE FROM SAID POSITION FOR CONTINUED MOVEMENT; ANDMEANS FOR RECEIVING THE RECOGNIZED ARTICLE AFTER ITS REMOVAL AND RELEASEFROM SAID POSITION.